William Eggleston

Eggleston has said, "I am at war with the obvious." His photographs transform the ordinary into distinctive, poetic images that eschew fixed meaning. Though criticized at the time, his now legendary 1976 solo exhibition William Eggleston's Guide, organized by the visionary curator John Szarkowski at The Museum of Modern Art, New York--the first presentation of color photography at the museum--heralded an important moment in the medium's acceptance within the art-historical canon and...
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Eggleston has said, "I am at war with the obvious." His photographs transform the ordinary into distinctive, poetic images that eschew fixed meaning. Though criticized at the time, his now legendary 1976 solo exhibition William Eggleston's Guide, organized by the visionary curator John Szarkowski at The Museum of Modern Art, New York--the first presentation of color photography at the museum--heralded an important moment in the medium's acceptance within the art-historical canon and solidified Eggleston's position in the pantheon of the greats alongside Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, and Walker Evans.

Published on the occasion of David Zwirner's New York exhibition of selections from The Democratic Forest, this new book highlights sixty exceptional images from Eggleston's epic project. His photography is "democratic" in its resistance to hierarchy where, as noted by the artist, "no particular subject is more or less important than another." Featuring original scholarship by renowned art historian, Alexander Nemerov, this notable presentation of The Democratic Forest provides historical context for a monumental body of work, while offering newcomers a foothold in Eggleston's photographic practice.